The only way to end this is by powering down the computer, which obviously is the wrong way.I've tried disabling via VASM and by chmod -x /etc/rc.d/rc.firewall, but everytime I boot up, the (default) firewall is started and I can't shutdown.

Hi. I am a Linux newbie and I managed to get Vector Linux 6.0 Light installed and running fine. I have the same problem with the firewall not shutting down. I had no problems before activating the firewall. I used VASM to check on the services and both run level 3 and 4 have the firewall as off. (The check boxes look empty to me.) So it would seem that this is not the problem for my install. Any ideas? Thanks.

I got the same data after I disabled the built in firewall. When I disabled it the check box went from looking full to empty. I assume empty is off. That's the way it was before I changed anything.

When I disabled it a dialog box came up saying the firewall had been activated so it seems to be activated with either choice.

I later installed Firestarter with gsplapt. I couldn't find anything relating to Firestarter after the installation even though it said it was successful. Using Xterm I typed in Firestarter and the installation came up. I installed it and it worked. When I shut down Xterm, Firestarter also shuts down. Is there any way to run it without Xterm open? The only way I can find to start Firestarter is with Xterm.

When you installed Firestarter via Gslapt it should have put an icon on the menu under System - at least it did for me. If you can't find an icon on the menu take a quick look in /usr/share/applications to see if there is an entry for it there. If there isn't you can create one.

Running Firestarter from the menu or from a terminal only brings up the GUI for the program - the firewall is already installed and running in the background. You only need to access the GUI if you want to change the configuration. Generally the defaults work fine.

I looked in usr/share/applications and there is a listing for Firestarter but it's just a link on the desktop to the installation program. There are no other listings for Firestarter

I did notice when booting up that a firewall was being activated. When I logged out it showed that Firestarter was being terminated so it is working. However there is no Firewall menu icon under System.

I just wanted to make sure that I had a firewall running. It would be great if there were some way to monitor the firewall when online.

Hi. I've been away for a few weeks but just wanted to pick this thread up again. You may have figured most of this out already.

The desktop file in /usr/share/applications is what icewm uses to put icons on the menu. I just installed VL6.0 Light in VirtualBox to check things out and I notice that you have to regenerate the menu each time you add an application. There's a command to do that on the System menu. After that the icon for Firestarter will show up on the menu under System. With XFCE, which I'm used to, the icons get added to the menu automatically.

If you are seeing an entry for Firestarter when you boot or shutdown then it's running. There is a script in /etc/rc.d/init.d for checking its status. As root in a terminal issue the command /etc/rc.d/init.d/firewall status and you should get a message saying that Firestarter is running. You can stop and start it in the same way.

If you want to see what the firewall is doing then just run the Firestarter GUI from the menu (or from a terminal) and look at the status and events tabs.

As I understand it, Firestarter (and Guarddog etc) are just GUI front ends for the built-in iptables which is really what's doing the filtering. Starting the firewall loads the appropriate kernel modules and if you do an lsmod as root in a terminal you will see several entries with iptables in their names when the firewall is running.

I have found that whatever front end you use for iptables you have to enable the firewall for the run levels you require, usually 2 and 4 I think. You do this in the services section of VASM. If you don't do this it won't be running after a reboot.

Hope this helps. If anyone has any corrections or amplifications please chime in, this area is still a bit fuzzy for me.